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bossy

bossy

46 2.6
Being quick to tell people what to do in a forceful, unpleasant way
  • adjective
  • /ˈbɔsi/
  • Informal
translation icon : mandón
  • His bossy attitude makes it hard for others to share their ideas in meetings.

Like I just, I feel like I'm quite bossy and I'm not in the bedroom.

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Examples

  • Sister Patterson is overbearing, bossy, and often rude to the men who profess to love or admire her daughter.

    Academic text (2013)
  • You're so bossy and domineering.

  • And what I hate about the word bossy is that bossy is a label.

  • I decided and just said to Mark, let's do this because I'm bossy like that.

  • But Mandy was bossy, giving orders almost as often as she drew breath.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • Stop being so bossy.

  • Mashi's manner might even be considered bossy in Lily's school.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • According to his father, Arthur, 10-year-old Doug is much too bossy in groups to get along smoothly with other children.

    Academic text (1995)
  • In 2013, Sheryl Sandberg exhorted women to ignore the childhood teases of being bossy girls and to lean into leadership.

    Academic text (2015)
  • She always tells everyone what to do, and that's why people think she's bossy.

Synonyms

pushy
vsbossy
  • Informal
75 5.0

Being rude and trying too hard to make people do what you want

is more about telling people what to do in an unpleasant way
overbearing
vsbossy
30 5.8

Being proud and trying to control other people

is more about giving orders frequently rather than pure force
dictatorial
vsbossy
16 7.7

Having complete control and expecting people to obey without question

is mainly a personal habit of ordering others rather than formal rule
autocratic
vsbossy
14 8.0

A leader who has complete power and does not allow others to disagree

is used for informal frequent ordering without actual formal power
domineering
vsbossy
12 7.4

Trying to control other people and not listening to their ideas

is more about repeatedly telling people what to do

Antonyms

38 5.1

Willing to obey others and not argue

1 6.2

Not confident about saying what you think or want

How Bossy

dictatorial
16 7.7
domineering
12 7.4
bossy
  • Informal
46 2.6
directive
1 5.9

Surface Forms

bossy positive

Morphology

bossy = boss (transparent) = boss + y

Meaning is directly derived from 'boss' + the adjectival suffix '-y' indicating being like a boss or inclined to give orders.

Etymology

Bossy comes from the word boss, which originally came from the Dutch word baas meaning 'master'. So bossy describes someone who acts like a 'boss' by telling people what to do, often in a pushy way.